Israel: It's important to remember

What you think

February 9, 2009

Just after attending an excellent multidisciplinary Rollins College forum on the recent events in Gaza and the Arab-Israeli conflict, I was surprised to read a Sentinel letter that raised a question that I had heard just minutes before: Should the U.S. reconsider its military aid to Israel?

For me, this question has relevance going back to 1973. I remember our rabbi announcing during high holiday services that Israel was attacked by neighboring countries, and that the tiny Jewish state might not survive.

After that threat, the U.S. pledged to provide military assistance for Israel to give it a qualitative edge. This deterrence factor has been validated over the past 35 years.

Even more, Israel has returned the favor with various aircraft upgrades, missile defense and body-armor technology, and terror-prevention techniques that helped keep us safe for the past seven years.

My late father always wore a pin from the Holocaust Museum in Washington with the Hebrew inscription zachor, meaning "remember." By helping to prevent another Holocaust at the hands of a nuclear Iran, my support for aid to Israel honors his memory.